Industry
Vendor Applied Systems has appointed four new product managers. Dave DeGroot, Shannon Martin, Kathy Polizzi and Tony Villa bring almost 40 years of combined experience to their new roles. Kingsway Financial Services has named James Corcoran and J. Brian Reeve to its board of directors. Corcoran is a lawyer and former superintendent of insurance for […]
March 31, 2002
1 min read
Commercial
The March 2002 edition of CU improperly referenced the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada. CU apologizes for the error.
Risk
After almost 10 years to the day since piloting the course of the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), George Anderson has signaled a personal change in course. The long-standing president of the IBC -- who held office during perhaps the "hottest political period" the property and casualty insurance industry faced to date -- has retired, allowing what he describes as "new blood to step forward".
8 min read
Embracing today’s powerful technology can provide solutions to some of the major challenges facing the insurance industry today, including the task of reducing policy handling and delivery expenses, increasing retention rates, cross-selling additional services to clients, supporting distribution channels and building brand awareness. Policy production and delivery costs $4 to $9 per policy — a […]
4 min read
While commercial insurance rate adjustments in Canada appear to be tracking the corrections implemented in the U.S. marketplace, pricing adjustments within the Canadian personal lines arena over mainly the last six months would appear to be far more extreme. Indeed, broker commentators from across the country note, personal lines has become a combat field with insurers applying a combination of double-digit rate increases and tightening the noose on terms of coverage. Insurers have also reacted by withdrawing from some regions altogether and otherwise exiting non-profitable lines of business, with "broker review" assessments having become a common occurrence in many provinces. As a result, brokers are experiencing difficulty in maintaining markets they represent, as well as placing new business. Could this environment spark the next flare up of broker consolidations?
12 min read
On February 22, 2002 the Supreme Court of Canada released its reasons in the landmark case of Whiten v. Pilot Insurance Co., ending a year long cliffhanger for the insurance industry. The appeal was heard on December 14, 2000 and since that time, lawyers and claims professionals alike have pondered the significance of the delay.
9 min read
The boogey man hidden inside the closet, under the bed or trying to crawl through the window, was once the stuff of childhood nightmares. But now that improbable monster may have taken shape in the form of so-called "toxic" mold. The prevalence of this damaging organism, which attacks buildings and is reported to cause a variety of health-related problems is becoming a very real nightmare for insurers. And, insurers learned at a recent Canadian Litigation Counsel seminar, recent U.S. court judgements show this is a "financial monster" insurers ignore at their own peril.
7 min read
— once it is revealed to them. Change is based on the communication of information and the offering of incentives. Rational-Empirical People are rational and will follow their self-interest — once it is revealed to them. Change is based on the communication of information and the offering of incentives. Normative-Reeducative People are social beings and […]
With the rise of high-profile court cases, particularly in the U.S., employment practices liability (EPL) has become a focus for the industry. The severity of EPL claims is growing, with many wondering when, or if, the trend will reach its peak.
6 min read
Almost from the start of the Internet "boom", pundits prophesied the death of the middleman. Everyone from high-profile technologists like Nicholas Negroponte to columnists in Wired and Fast Company declared that insurance brokers and other market intermediaries were stuck on the fast train to obsolescence. But those predictions are being proved wrong as the Internet promises to enable brokers as never before.
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